Councilman quits day job to run for state House

Metro Councilman Sam Coleman has quit his job as a program coordinator for the state Department of Children’s Services in order to run for the District 60 House seat held by retiring Rep. Ben West.

Coleman is in his second term on Metro Council, representing the Antioch area. He had worked for the state for 32 years, before a ruling from the federal Hatch Act unit advised him to resign if he were to go forward with his election bid. Coleman resigned before the April 1 filing deadline.

“It was very hard, because I always knew it was coming, but I didn’t know it was coming so soon,” Coleman said. “I wasn’t ready to walk away, but I hope this will be a sign to voters how seriously I take this.”

Coleman’s chief rival for the Democratic nomination figures to be former Councilman Tommy Bradley. In a straw poll yesterday, Bradley beat Coleman by about a 2-to-1 margin. Fellow candidate Larry Crim finished a mere one vote behind Coleman.

An attorney by trade, Coleman said he would increase his private practice workload in order to pick up the slack.